Gregory Lacoua, designer and artisan

The jury for the Grand Prix de la Création de la Ville de Paris selects winners based on the quality of their approach, the development strategies they adopt, their desire to perpetuate expertise and their sense of innovation. Receiving this award will also give Gregory Lacoua the opportunity to take centre stage next time the Maison&Objet trade fair opens its doors. Gregory Lacoua is a man who is passionate about artisan expertise. He began honing his upholstery and saddlery skills from a very young age, initially obtaining a vocational proficiency certificate (CAP - Certificat d'Aptitude Professionnelle) and then securing a place at the École Boulle, which eventually earned him a position at contemporary furnishings manufacturer Domeau&Pérès. Working on prototypes for some of the design world’s biggest names, such as the Bouroullec brothers, Matali Crasset and Christophe Pillet, opened the young artisan’s eyes to the overall creative process and encouraged him to spread his wings. At just 24 years of age, he handed in his notice and was accepted at the prestigious French National Institute for Advanced Studies in Industrial Design (ENSCI-Les Ateliers), before going on to launch his own design agency, Studio Lacoua.

 Lacoua grew up in a family who loved scouring flea markets for finds. Whilst still very young, he was shown how to dismantle and restore objects whilst nonetheless retaining the full beauty of the original. It is a future-focused philosophy that continues to shape his creative thought process to this day: “It’s only natural to ask ourselves what will become of our work,” he explains. “We leave a legacy, a mark, a message.” Unsurprisingly, the designer’s mind is drawn towards sustainable development. “Useful and smart objects need sustainable materials. Some are destined to be handed down through the generations, whilst others will be recycled and transformed. We are lucky enough to have the opportunity to work with noble materials. I try to avoid using a material that emit CO2 as concrete, for example.” Sustainability is also about learning from the past and giving everyday objects a sense of meaning. In 2007, he attracted the spotlight by designing an extraordinary rug-stool for Ligne Roset. When opened up, it lies totally flat, but once closed it magically takes on the volume of a stool. “This design was intended to hold up a mirror to the history and etymology of the word tabouret (stool, in French), which started out as a “tabour”, a stand on which an embroidery hoop is placed.”

“The very best projects are those for which you don’t just settle for the obvious”

He sees each order as an invitation to delve deep into symbolism and the past. A prime example was when he worked on the refurbishment of a Parisian chapel originally built in 1960 by Le Maresquier, a disciple of Le Corbusier, for the Congregation of the Sisters of the Assumption. The benches Lacoua designed featured seats that floated two centimetres higher than the legs, in a figurative representation of the spiritual ascension of prayer. “The very best projects are those for which you don’t just settle for the obvious but instead strive to think out of the box, working with a team that’s all singing from the same hymn sheet,” he explains. Lacoua has just finished designing the first-ever collection for Souchet Inspired Woodwork along with maker Nicolas Souchet, with whom he first struck up a friendship at the École Boulle. Souchet has taken over the reins of a highly traditional cabinetry workshop in eastern France, which he is now striving to bring into the XXIst century. Their inaugural collection blends the very best of digital technology with the subtlety of working by hand, and is a veritable manifesto for craftsmanship of the future. “I am convinced that the craftsmen who were around during Louis XVI’s reign would have loved having the chance to get to grips with a digital planer!” says Lacoua with a smile. The pair have drawn on these techniques to jointly create a bistro-style table whose intertwined wooden legs spin, as though dancing. Simply stunning.